Everything I said before about The Hermetic Tablet is still true. I look forward to new issues being published as there is always a range of writing, from short thought provoking articles to long essays that gives me some ‘time out’ from my crazy life.

David Nez – Tracking the Celestial Bears: Myth and Magic of Ursa Major and Minor,

Charles and Sandra Tabatha Cicero – Covering of Concealment: A GD Ritual to create the Helm of Darkness,

Wynn Westcott – A glance at the Kabalah,

Mogg Morgan – Osiris and the Masonic Myth,

Eric V. Sisco – The Alpha et Omega ceremony of Consecration of a Temple and the Ceremony of Installation of the Chief.

Along with a review of Gordon Whites excellent “Starships” by Mogg Morgan. Another book that I reviewed and highly recommend. Mogg Morgan did a far better review than I could have.

I wish I had Jayne Gibson’s article about 6 weeks ago as it would have settled a pub argument for me (I drink with some strange people). My introduction to mythology was watching movies like Jason and the Argonauts. My child like love of mythology has never left me and Jayne’s article just leaves me lusting after more information on the subject. I often wonder how myth’s such as the Nephilim, fallen angels and Lucifer come into being, what was the seed that started this fable thousands of years ago. Which reminds me that Peter Grey’s Lucifer: praxis will be published soon. Another must read that will leave me anting more.

A favorite in this edition was Ina Cüsters-Van Bergen’s article on the magical act of creating art. Whether it be drawing out talisman’s, creating magical tools or painting representations of your favorite deity’s. Dion Fortune’s definition of magic is “Magic is the Art and Science to create Changes in Consciousness”. The very act in itself is magical. This made’s me look at my pathetic creations in a different light and encourages me to be more involved in the act of creation, rather just reading and following rituals. I need to borrow my children’s paints and pens and concentrate in a meditative fashion on the act of creation.

Another favorite is David Nez’s article on the celestial bear. If you’ve read Starships you’ll notice the familiar lines this article is along. As more people connect the dot’s in our myths and how they are linked to the sky above us I think we will have a much better understanding of our past and the common threads and belief’s that link us all.

A final article I’ll mention is Mogg Morgan’s Osiris and the Masonic Myth. In the past few years I’ve become interested again in Freemasonry. I was raised as a Master Mason in 1986 but have not stood in an open lodge since 1990. Despite being a life member, I think my mother lodge would be rather shocked if I walked back through there doors again. However, only in the past few years, with my involvement in the occult have I truly been able to understand the rituals. At the time (and probably still) in Scotland the lodge is seen as a gentleman’s drinking club. I wonder if many people actually contemplate the mysteries that are revealed to them, how they were developed or the deeper meanings. A lot of things recently have brought up my involvement in Freemasonry in the past and Mogg’s article had me contemplating those initiations and the office I used to hold. The similarities in the mysteries of Western magical occult school’s and the Freemason’s can not be overlooked. The obvious connection is that the 3 founding members of the Golden Dawn were all Freemasons but Mogg’s article hints at a much older connection. One thing I can’t understand though is, if the Golden Dawn from its outset in 1888 allowed the initiation of women, then why is the York Rite and Scottish Rite still med only? Something I intend to address with the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

I feel the Hermetic Tablet is highly undervalued publication and deserves a wider readership. In Nick Farrell’s editorial he talks about the poor financial conditions a lot of occultist’s find themselves in. I was contemplating this a few weeks ago, from a very well paid job and a life as a muggle, to rekindling my interest in the occult and being unemployed for the first time in my life (in my late 40’s) was very sudden. Months after being laid off I was able to see the connection. Life’s harder now but in many ways better. There is a feeling of being connected to something greater. I’m sure others feel similarly that if they were not magically inclined their lives maybe financially richer. A popular mage can launch an appeal to assist with an unexpected disaster but this publication receives very little support, even when it is run to support occult charities.